HomeHomehttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011-09-27T20:10:22ZSquarespaceMarathon2500 Podcast Libraryhttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/9/25/marathon2500-podcast-library.htmlPhil2011-09-25T18:28:52Z2011-09-25T18:28:52ZWith the Marathon2500 program now complete, the Reading Odyssey intends to preserve this podcast library of all 9 lectures for at least the next 2,500 years. The Marathon2500 podcast library is provided at no charge with the support of leading scholars, the Reading Odyssey board of trustees and our sponsors.

Listen to or download any of these lectures (just click on the links):

]]>2,500 year anniversary of Marathon is herehttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/9/21/2500-year-anniversary-of-marathon-is-here.htmlPhil2011-09-21T14:10:18Z2011-09-21T14:10:18ZAfter a year of lectures and Herodotus reading groups, the day has arrived: the actual 2,500 year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon. Please join us for our final webinar, today, Wednesday, September 21, 2011:

And many scholars have sent in their comments about the significance of Marathon.

Join us!

- Phil

Founder, Reading OdysseyDirector, Marathon2500

]]>Marathon2500 evehttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/9/20/marathon2500-eve.htmlPhil2011-09-21T02:27:36Z2011-09-21T02:27:36ZThe 2,500-year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon is about to happen on the east coast of the United States (Europe and Asia have already begun the 2,500-year anniversary day).

In just over 12 hours, Professor Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Chair of Greek Culture at Cambridge University and Chairman of Marathon2500, will begin the final - and ninth - lecture of the Marathon2500 program.

Joined by scholars around the world live via webinar/toll-free conference call, Professor Cartledge will reflect on the context and meaning of the Battle of Marathon and why we have been celebrating the 2,500 year anniversary over the last 12 months.

Interested and curious adults the world over are invited to join us for this commemoration of the 2,500 year anniversay. Register here for the toll-free phone number and webinar ID: http://marathon2500-9.eventbrite.com

Scholars from around the world have submitted short answers to the question - why is Marathon important. We'll be sharing their answers in the final webinar tomorrow.

My own answer to that question is simple. In addition to the significance of the battle for the later flourishing of Athenian culture and politics, Marathon is important for the same reason that all history is important: understanding the Battle of Marathon (and reading terrific books like Herodotus' Histories) helps humans connect to and imagine our past. And that activity has important cascading effects. By connecting to our past we start to become curious about a most important question: "how did we humans come to create the world we live in today?" By asking that question we confront and challenge passivity. Challenging passivity - and coming to terms with the possibility that we shaped our world - strengthens the intellectual and moral muscles we need to continue to create and recreate our present and future.

- Phil

Phil TerryFounder, Reading OdysseyDirector, Marathon2500

]]>Marathon Spearheadshttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/9/19/marathon-spearheads.htmlPhil2011-09-19T22:19:43Z2011-09-19T22:19:43ZDr. Yannis Galanakis graciously agreed to allow us to reprint the beginning of his really excellent piece on two spearheads allegedly from Marathon and now in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

Re-thinking Marathon: two memorabilia from the battle of Marathon at the Pitt-Rivers

Among the objects in the founding collection of Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers, and within a relatively small group of ancient Greek antiquities, are two iron socketed spearheads. The first of the two spearheads (1884.120.42; FIGURES 1, 2, 5) has a much-corroded, leaf-shaped blade, with a slightly-pronounced midrib and a socket, which still contains traces of the wooden haft (total length: 26.5 x max. blade width: 4.4cm, 125gr). The second spearhead (1884.120.43; FIGURES 3, 4, 5), also badly-corroded, has a long narrow blade with a slightly-pronounced midrib and is curved upwards [1] (total length: 35.1cm x max. blade width 3cm, 126gr).

]]>Final Marathon2500 lecture on the *2,500* year annivesaryhttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/8/25/final-marathon2500-lecture-on-the-2500-year-annivesary.htmlPhil2011-08-25T20:16:26Z2011-08-25T20:16:26ZThe Context and Meaning of the Battle of Marathon: Why we have been celebrating the 2,500 year anniversary

Wednesday, September 21, 20111:00 PM New York Time (Brief lecture and then Q&A with listeners from all over the world)Speaker: PAUL CARTLEDGE

On the *actual* 2,500-year anniversary (as best as we can determine), we will be hosting the final and ninth lecture of the Marathon2500 series.

Paul Cartledge, Hellenic Parliament Global Distinguished Professor in the History and Theory of Democracy at New York University and A.G. Leventis Professor Greek Culture, Cambridge University will lead the celebration today of the 2,500 year anniversary of the Battle of Marathon by reviewing the yearlong lecture series that he's chaired and by answering questions from the global audience about any of the topics discussed during the previous 12 months.

A world expert on Athens and Sparta in the Classical Age, Professor Cartledge was chief historical consultant for the BBC TV series The Greeks and the Channel 4 series The Spartans, presented by Bettany Hughes. He is also a holder of the Gold Cross of the Order of Honour (Greece), an Honorary Citizen of (modern) Sparta and a board member of the Reading Odyssey.

Marathon2500 Lecture Series

Professor Cartledge has chaired the yearlong Marathon2500 lecture series and will be reviewing key themes and answering questions in this final lecture/discussion.

People around the world have participated in this commemoration of the battle of Marathon, thanks to the world’s best Hellenic scholars and sports historians who delivered eight lectures on the cultural, intellectual and athletic legacy of the Battle of Marathon. The talks were delivered in a variety of contexts: live audiences at NYU and Georgetown, global webinars and webcasts and all podcasts have been archived for listening on demand.

]]>Podcast of "Epilogue: What happened after the Battle of Marathon"http://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/6/9/podcast-of-epilogue-what-happened-after-the-battle-of-marath.htmlPhil2011-06-09T19:02:11Z2011-06-09T19:02:11ZHere's the link to the podcast and slides from yesterday's lecture with Professor John Marincola.

The next and final lecture will be by Marathon2500 Chair Professor Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Chair of Greek Culture at Cambridge University, Tuesday, September 20, 2011 live from Bard College in New York and broadcast free around the world via webcast, teleconference.

Professor Marincola (Ph.D., Brown) is the Leon Golden Professor of Classics at Florida State University. The editor of the Penguin Herodotus, Professor Marincola specializes in Greek and Roman historiography and rhetoric and in this final lecture of the Marathon2500 series, Professor Marincola will talk about what happened after the battle.

People around the world will get a chance to participate in the celebration of the battle of Marathon, thanks to a cultural campaign initiated by the Reading Odyssey, a New York not-for-profit. The Reading Odyssey and Marathon2500 chairman Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Chair of Greek Culture at Cambridge University will recruit the world’s best Hellenic scholars and sports historians to deliver eight lectures on the cultural, intellectual and athletic legacy of the Battle of Marathon. The talks will be given before live audiences, webcast online and archived for viewing or listening on demand. Lectures will begin in September 2010 and run through June 2011. To multiply their impact, the Reading Odyssey will work with universities, colleges, high schools, museums and sports organizations to create satellite listening centers.

]]>Herodotus and the Invention of History todayhttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/5/10/herodotus-and-the-invention-of-history-today-1.htmlPhil2011-05-10T17:15:58Z2011-05-10T17:15:58ZOur seventh Marathon2500 lecture, "Herodotus and the Invention of History", by independent scholar Robert Strassler is live today, Tuesday, May 10 at 1pm New York time.

Editor of the Landmark Herodotus, Landmark Thucydides, Landmark Xenophon, Landmark Arrian and forthcoming editions, Robert Strassler is widely acclaimed for making the work of these ancient Greek historians accessible to modern readers. In his lecture, he will talk with Professor Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Chair of Greek History at Cambridge and the chair of Marathon2500, about Herodotus, the first historian, and how in writing about the Persian Wars – incluiding the Battle of Marathon - Herodotus invented history.

]]>"Sports and War" podcast now availablehttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/4/8/sports-and-war-podcast-now-available.htmlPhil2011-04-08T20:45:15Z2011-04-08T20:45:15ZProfessor Tom Scanlon delivered the sixth Marathon2500 lecture on Tuesday, April 5 focused on the fascinating and puzzling legend(s) of Pheidippides (or whatever his name was), ancient long-distance messenger runners ("day runners" hemerodromoi) as a class, ancient footraces in the stadium, perhaps a bit about the Olympic truce (on the theme of sport and war), the Marathon Race in the modern Olympics, and modern long-distance running.

]]>"Sports and War" lecture about to beginhttp://www.marathon2500.org/home/2011/4/5/sports-and-war-lecture-about-to-begin.htmlPhil2011-04-05T17:17:25Z2011-04-05T17:17:25ZOur sixth Marathon2500 lecture, "Sports and War", by Professor Thomas Scanlon begins live in about 30 minutes.

This global lecture - available free via webinar/conference call will look at the fascinating and puzzling legend(s) of Pheidippides (or whatever his name was), ancient long-distance messenger runners ("day runners" hemerodromoi) as a class, ancient footraces in the stadium, perhaps a bit about the Olympic truce (on the theme of sport and war), the Marathon Race in the modern Olympics, and modern long-distance running. The common thread is the Greek and our own contest culture.

Department Chair of Comparative Literature, and Director of Comparative Ancient Civilizations at the University of California, Riverside, Tom Scanlon's research is on Greek and Roman sport, and Greek and Roman historical writing; his teaching interests encompass most areas of Greek and Roman literature, language, and culture, including courses on ancient sports, religion, gender, and mythology.